I have truly been enjoying this book about life in God opening up afresh. Nancy has a wonderful voice and it's easy to connect with her and uncover insights with her in a way that's inspiring, convicting and simple without being boxy or formulaic. And this from a woman who is from an evangelical orientation. It is rare that I feel connected with God without too many abrupt interruptions when I read books by evangelical writers, so this is high compliments for Nancy and the one who breathes in and through her work. I appreciated both Nancy's references to life full with days parenting young children as well as her chapter devoted to work as a valuable avenue for loving God and living an abundant, dynamic life. On page 27 she argues biblically for why we ought to have sermons on men cooking, based on John 21 where Jesus cooks breakfast for the disciples. I like that view of godly manhood.
On page 14 Nancy says, "The power of gratitude is breathtaking and centering. It is along the lines of nuclear power."
1. What inspires in you breathtaking gratitude?
Nancy talks about watching her grandmother make homemade jell-O and writes of the molds, "Molds are rigid, predetermined boundaries that create shape but leave no room for movement." (29)
2. If molds didn't exist, what shape would you be?
3. Without molds, what ways would you move freely as a lover of God?
Nancy discusses the issue of wanting to trade callings with someone else and how this is something that gets under Jesus' skin when the disciples get into a dynamic of, "Well what a about him?" Nancy describes an experience of feeling jealous of a fellow speaker and how she handled that. (30-32)
4. Describe a time you wanted to trade lives or callings with another person.
5. What obstacles stand in the way being aligned with your Life in God?
On page 62, Nancy discusses the gift of ordinariness. She says of enjoying the ordinary,
it gives us a sense of purpose even in the mundane, a kind of freedom that releases us from the need to be important -- a need that can weigh us down and sink us into our own pitiful selves. Ordinary gives a peace and joy and centeredness that turns us toward God and builds him deep inside of us.
6. What is your most cherished ordinary time?
7. What will you do today to celebrate WHAT IS in your life?
Labels: Book Discussions, Looking for God, Nancy Ortberg
I'll go for the easy one: My most cherished ordinary times have been over the last week or two at 6:30, 7 in the morning...
...sitting in the back yard with a cup of coffee and a book watching the birds pick through the grass, listening to the cardinals, jays, robins and other birds sing, smelling the morning freshness, feeling the soft air, studying the way that dandelion seeds float and sparkle in the bright sunlight.